Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

I will go back a number of years to refer to the very first decision to join the EEC. I was against that decision and over the years have been consistently opposed to that membership. Consequently, I have been against both the Nice treaty and the various varieties of the Lisbon treaty. I thought we were giving away too much of our identity and our sovereignty and that we were no longer masters of our own destiny. My fear always has been that we would be swallowed up by the bigger fish in the pond that is Europe. It is very important that this referendum be held, although it appeared for some time as though this would not happen. However, decisions of fundamental importance to Ireland must go to the Irish people. In two examples in recent years, namely, the bank guarantee and the bailout, decisions were made without reference to the citizens but citizens are paying for those decisions now. People are being given the choice and an interesting survey appeared in today's edition of The Irish Times. It shows the referendum will be a major test for the Government, as it appears the outcome is wide open. According to the latest MRBI poll, the outcome appears to hinge on those who are undecided. I can understand people voting "Yes" because that fear factor is powerful. I believe it is significant that people over 65 are giving the treaty the strongest support. However, strongest support for the "No" side comes from the age cohort just younger than the over-65 age group. Another interesting point is that 66% of the pro-Europe side, who consider Ireland to be better in Europe, comprise the better-off and farmers, whereas those who are anti-Europe are the poorest voters. This statistic speaks volumes as the current economic and political policies certainly are creating more poor people in Ireland.

My fear is the fiscal compact is protecting the central national economies of the euro over peripheral economies such as Ireland. There is a huge question as to whether this firewall agreement is in Irish interests, particularly for those on lower incomes. There is a vagueness that could be significant for future interpretation and the fear is that France and Germany could bring pressure to bear to institute greater monetary and fiscal union within the European Union. In such a case, will this State bypass the Constitution? How many more restrictions will be placed on national budgets? In the meaning of the treaty, the Council issues recommendations to the member states concerned to correct the excessive deficit and gives a timeframe for so doing. Non-compliance with the recommendation would bring further measures including, for the euro area member states, the possibility of sanctions. How will Ireland cope with this? I refer to aspects of the surveillance of Ireland's economic policies, as outlined in the Oireachtas Library and Research Service's digest. Ireland certainly could have done with surveillance some years ago during the Celtic tiger years. However, those who should have been in positions of surveillance certainly did not so do, which has contributed hugely to the mess in which we now are in.

I can go along with aspects of the treaty. I agree there must be budgetary discipline, that debt levels must be reduced and deficits must be corrected. However, the problem is with the manner in which this will be done. People are told they must swallow a bitter pill but when someone is ill, there is more than one remedy for dealing with that particular illness. Europe will be dictating our budgets, tax policies, wages and pensions and Ireland's economic policy will not be its own. If one considers the bailout, the main beneficiaries were those insolvent banks which had run riot. Was it not nice of Europe to give a bailout in order that those Irish banks would have the money not to default on their debts to the French, German, British and other banks, namely, those debts which were accrued during the binge of property buying more than ten years ago? Issues also arise in respect of voting weights which will be of serious disadvantage to Ireland.

It is interesting to read the views of various economists and politicians and to listen to the discussions of the sub-committee of the Joint Committee on European Affairs on the referendum. There have been those who were in favour, those who were against and an interesting group of those who are against the treaty but who will be voting for it. I refer to some of their arguments, which include the point that the fiscal treaty will require substantially more austerity measures in the medium term. There are groups which simply cannot take any more austerity. Moreover, the fiscal treaty will depress growth in the eurozone, which will have a significant impact on Ireland's external demand. It will limit the measures future Governments may take during downturns and will undermine productive economic growth. Nevertheless, those who articulated such views still intend to vote for the treaty. One also has been told that regardless of a "Yes" or "No" vote, Ireland will have access to institutional funding. An interesting aside is that if Monsieur Hollande wins the French presidential election, he has other ideas on the fiscal compact. There has been a major emphasis on macro-economics but one cannot lose site of the micro side. Euro fiscal restraint cannot be allowed to dominate over the real needs of ordinary and vulnerable people in Ireland and Europe. I ask whether there is a social compact to this treaty. I have read some of the documents produced by the People's Movement and agree with them that Ireland has other sources of funding. I refer to Ireland's oil, gas, lead and zinc resources, which are continually given away for half-nothing. I refer to the suggested progressive tax system, with particular reference to a wealth tax, as well as to one of the movement's suggestions about renegotiating foreign debt.

Moreover, while there are times when people claim we must do what Europe wish us to do, there are other times when we are quite happy simply to ignore Europe. I have in mind a cause in which I am particularly interested, namely, blood sports, animal welfare and coursing. Although many countries in Europe do not permit such activities, we continue on regardless. I also am concerned about the military implications, because I am not sure that Ireland is not being drawn into something it will regret entering.

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